


Antiques

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, bianca is a nerd, it's really really gay, thalia is a dork, there is a lot of kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-18
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-26 04:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2637362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Bianca and Thalia stop at an antique store and discuss existentialism.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Antiques

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first published work so comments/suggestions are appreciated

Thalia hadn’t wanted to go inside, but Bianca had persuaded her with her big brown eyes and long dark lashes. The store smelled of mothballs and expired spices, and there didn’t seem to be a system of organization for anything whatsoever. It was cluttered, messy, and Thalia nearly tripped over a dusty urn on the floor.  
Bianca only covered her mouth as she giggled and disappeared behind a bookshelf.

Thalia’s face felt hot.

“Hey, don’t get too caught up in here, okay?” Thalia called after her. “We gotta regroup with the others in ten.”

“I won’t be long, I promise.” Bianca peeked around a corner, her braid swinging behind her slightly. “Come on, look around with me!”

Thalia exhaled and maneuvered her way through the maze of things that had seen their prime more than forty years ago, trying not to breathe in too much dust.

“I don’t get why you’re so into this stuff,” she said as she came to stand beside Bianca, who was inspecting a matryoshka doll. “It’s all old, outdated—“

“Not to me it’s not.”

Thalia went quiet. Bianca placed the doll back on the shelf and turned to face her. She didn’t look angry, not even hurt, but there was a small furrow in her brow that meant she was thinking very hard about how to say whatever was on her mind.

“I know it’s a little hard to understand,” she began, “but these things in here, this store that’s labeled Antiques? They’re not antiques to me.” She took a few steps forward, and Thalia followed tentatively at her heels. Bianca’s fingers trailed lightly over a rotary phone, turning the dial and letting it lazily spin back into place. “I grew up with these things. All this stuff was sold in normal stores—some things were quite new, too.”

She turned on her heel suddenly and Thalia almost walked right into her. Bianca’s eyes were wistful and far away, like she was seeing something that Thalia couldn’t. Then brown eyes met blue, and Bianca’s voice was very quiet.

“Do you think I’m an antique, Thalia?”

“I—What?”

“Am I an antique?”

“Why would you say that?”

“An antique is something that’s old, out of its time, right?” Bianca sat down on a rickety chair, looking strangely homesick, and Thalia’s heart ached. “I’ve been frozen in time over and over, sometimes cause I’ve wanted it and sometimes not, but it’s all the same, isn’t it? I’m out of time. I’m just being preserved, like all these things… What happens when I have no use anymore? Will I collect dust?”

“No, stop, just listen to me.” Thalia knelt down in front of Bianca and took her hands in her own. “You know what happens when something gets older? It increases in value. It’s survived decades beyond what people expected and it’s still in tact… It’s still beautiful.”

Thalia reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind Bianca’s ear, letting her hand follow the curve of Bianca’s jaw as she drew away. “So maybe you’re an antique, but that’s not a bad thing. You’re strong, resilient—you’ve lasted this long, you’ve been through so much… And you’re beautiful.”

Both of her hands came up to cup Bianca’s face this time, and their foreheads pressed together.

Thalia’s words were barely above a whisper. They were only meant for Bianca, only supposed to be heard by the two of them. “You’re so beautiful, Bianca.”

Then Bianca leaned in and pressed her lips to Thalia’s, and Thalia could have sworn her heart slammed to a stop in her chest. Everything was fading away; the old wooden floors beneath her knees, the smell of mothballs, and the brisk autumn breeze that was drifting through the open door all vanished, leaving Thalia with nothing but the warmth of Bianca’s breath, the softness of her lips, and the sweet taste she left in her mouth.

Thalia’s hands fell to Bianca’s waist and held the other girl gently. Bianca’s hands were in her hair, her fingers running through Thalia’s short black locks, pulling ever so faintly. Thalia tugged at Bianca’s lower lip with her teeth, causing Bianca to draw back with a quiet “ow!” Thalia laughed and whispered a hurried apology before closing the distance between their lips again.

This time her movements were slower, not as jerky and hesitant as before. She slipped her hands underneath Bianca’s shirt, sliding up and down her sides before wrapping around her back and feeling the gentle curve of her spine beneath her skin. Thalia’s nails scraped softly against Bianca’s shoulder blades and Bianca drew in a breath, her hands dropping to Thalia’s shoulders and holding tight.

“What are we doing?” Bianca panted against Thalia’s mouth.

“Well, I’m making out with you, if that’s helpful,” Thalia said between kisses.

“But why?“ Bianca pulled away, still gripping Thalia’s shoulders. Her cheeks were dusted with red and her eyes were large, the black of the pupils practically swallowing up all of the brown around it.

“Because I love you,” Thalia said, catching herself off guard. She’d thought those words would have been harder to say, but maybe they were so easy to express because of how undeniably true they were. There was no doubt in her mind, nothing to stop her. “And I swear on the gods if you ask me why I love you, I will beat you up.”

Bianca was speechless for all of three seconds before she started to laugh. It was a quiet laugh, not like way Thalia laughed when Bianca made a joke or when Artemis said something that caused Zoë to turn a shade quite close to a tomato’s, but it was genuine and pure. Her smile was wide, and it made her eyes crinkle a little at the edges. There was no way for Thalia to pick when Bianca looked the most beautiful to her, because Bianca was beautiful all the time, doing anything at all; but the way Bianca looked when she laughed was certainly not something to be overlooked.

“I think,” Bianca said, a smile still curving the edges of her lips, “that I love you, too. I have not loved many people—I haven’t been given the chance—but… I think this is what love is supposed to feel like.”

Thalia released an involuntary sigh of relief, and Bianca’s brows knitted together.

“What, you thought I was going to say I didn’t love you? I just kissed you, you big dummy! Why would I say I don’t love you after something like that?”

Thalia would normally respond to insults with a punch to the person’s nose, but this was Bianca, and as far as Thalia was concerned, Bianca could walk on her back in stilettos if she was so inclined. And in any case, Bianca calling her a big dummy was probably one of the cutest things she’d ever heard.

“We should get back to the others,” Thalia said.

Bianca bit her lower lip and glanced around the store. “Are you sure?”

“Believe it or not, I don’t want Artemis to kick my ass.”

Bianca grinned. “… Okay.”

The two huntresses picked their way through the store to the exit and stepped out into the autumn air. Then they set out down the boulevard with their hands intertwined.


End file.
